Today, LIA has joined forces with other major physics societies, which support physical science researchers with the publication of more than 75,000 peer-reviewed journal articles each year, to show our commitment to open access (OA) for physics research.
This group comprises 16 societies: the Acoustical Society of America, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, the American Association of Physics Teachers, the American Astronomical Society, the American Crystallographic Association, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, American Institute of Physics, American Physical Society, AVS Science & Technology of Materials, Interfaces, and Processes, the Chinese Physical Society, European Physical Society, Institute of Physics, Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine, the Laser Institute of America, The Optical Society (OSA), The Society of Rheology.
In a joint statement ‘Achieving greater open access in physics’, the societies detail how they have long embraced open science and OA to research results. Their proactive engagement, such as the launch of high-quality OA journals, switching hybrid journals to full OA and establishing transformative agreements, has contributed to an average annual growth in OA physics articles of more than 25%, compared with an overall average annual growth in physics articles of around 2%.
Having supported open publishing in physics for decades, the group’s common ambition is that all OA models provide financially sustainable support for author choice and the quality of peer-review and publication upon which excellent physics research relies.
The statement highlights how policies, such as the proposed cOAlition S Rights Retention Strategy, could undermine the viability of high-quality hybrid journals and the important role they play in balancing OA expansion with the researcher’s freedom to publish where they choose. It stresses the need for broader international financial support for OA to be in place before hybrid journals can fully transition, pointing out that adjustments to the global flow of funding will take time.
The group also acknowledges the strong culture of sharing results before peer review via preprint platforms and calls for funders to increase their recognition and encouragement for this practice in physics as a complement to peer-reviewed journal publication.
The joint statement is a call for a pragmatic, inclusive and sustainable approach to OA. It is also a commitment, as major physics societies representing the interests of their communities, to work together to make it happen.
Liège, 7/10/2019 – LASEA, one of the world leaders in laser micromachining, has announced it is tripling its equity and entering a new growth phase in its various markets. The current shareholders (Epimède, SRIW, Noshaq and private shareholders) are backing this operation to the tune of 6.1 million euros (first phase) to which will be added almost 10 million euros thanks to additional support from Europe and the Walloon Region.
LASEA, the high-tech Liège company, a laser micromachining pioneer
With annual organic growth of 32% since 2012, in 7 years, LASEA has multiplied its revenue and its
workforce by 7. Now the European leader of femtosecond laser micromachining, it is rapidly
increasing its market shares in the USA and Japan.
LASEA machines are used for cutting, marking and texturing materials with unrivalled quality and
precision (up to 0.2μm, i.e. 250x smaller than the width of a human hair). With cutting-edge R&D at
the international level, it regularly initiates innovations well in advance of the state of the art (cutting
with no conicity, bio-mimicry, machining along 7 axes simultaneously, etc.).
The capital increase will bolster its growth of recent years in both its primary sectors (pharmaceutical
industry, luxury, medical devices) and in new sectors like electronics.
New resources to accelerate its growth further and develop new sectors
LASEA S.A. l Liège Science Park l Rue des Chasseurs Ardennais 10 l 4031 Angleur l BELGIQUE 2 / 3
“With this capital-raising operation, the biggest since LASEA was founded, we are giving ourselves the
means to match our ambitions. Our strategy is to further strengthen our commercial presence in our
various countries while pursuing our cutting-edge technological developments in laser micromachining.
To achieve our goals, we are going to extend our campaigns to recruit new talent and to seek synergies
with other companies in our market niches”, Axl Kupisiewicz, Lasea CEO stated.
To support this new development phase, a new building in the Liège Science Park will come on-stream in
June 2020. The 4,000 m² of office and production space (workshops and clean rooms) will allow the
current production capacity to be multiplied by three. This investment is covered by a loan of 7 million
euros from BNP Paribas Fortis and Belfius.
Benoît Fellin, Investment Manager at the Noshaq Group: “We have backed LASEA in all its development
stages, since it was founded in 1999. Today, and starting at Liège, LASEA is acknowledged internationally
for its very specific expertise. We are therefore very enthusiastic about taking part in this operation.
These new resources will allow LASEA to continue to grow.”
Pierre Paraire, responsible for handling the matter at SRIW: “The entrepreneurial ability of the founder,
an innovation strategy translated into a product strategy, international deployment, the level of
qualification of human resources, etc. All these factors have led SRIW to reaffirming its shareholder’s
support for LASEA by taking part in this new capital-raising operation”
Philippe Degeer, Investment Manager at Epimède: “We are delighted once again to have established a
partnership with LASEA and other key investment funds to support this ambitious growth project. Our
goal is to help the company grow and enable it to reach a higher level. We have full confidence in the
ability of the LASEA team to offer exceptional performance in the future and are delighted to be part of
this project.”
The equity capital-raising operation will allow the company to initiate a new development phase, to
accelerate sales and to continue a process of industrializing new products stemming from its major
research programs.
These new resources will be used to:
Expand the sales and marketing force
Develop the subsidiaries (Bordeaux – France; Biel – Switzerland; San Diego – USA), as well as the
new agents’ and distributors’ network (Japan, Australia, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Spain,
Germany, Taiwan, etc.).
Hire new talent to finalise the new products targeted at the medical and electronics sectors
Strengthen synergies with companies in its market niches
Promote 2 new softwares worldwide (deployment in January 2020)
About LASEA:
Founded in 1999, LASEA supplies production lines to the most prestigious companies in the world
including the top 3 Swiss watchmakers, leading glasses manufacturers, the pharmaceutical and medical
industry (intra-ocular and cochlear implants), as well as several big names of Silicon Valley. Active in 27
countries and on 4 continents, it has already installed more than 300 machines worldwide (production
systems and lines operating 24 hours a day). In addition to its headquarters in Belgium (Liège Science
Park), it has subsidiaries in Bordeaux, San Diego and Biel. It employs 80 people and owns a 25% stake in
CISEO (formerly WOW group) with CITIUS and UNISENSOR.
LASEA has been a finalist in the competition of the Promising Enterprise of the Year (EY), is part of the
50 fastest-growing companies in Belgium (Fast 50 – Deloitte) and has won various awards including the
Wallonia Export Grand Prix 2018 (AWEX) and the Micron d’Or 2018 (Machine-tools
category). www.lasea.com
About Noshaq:
Noshaq is the financial partner of reference for the creation and development of SMEs in the Liège
region. Over the years, Noshaq has developed a panel of funding vehicles in line with market needs and
trends and with its strategy. www.noshaq.be
About SRIW:
S.R.I.W. develops a wide range of customised solutions to support business creation, development
through innovation or investment, internal and external growth, the creation of subsidiaries in Wallonia,
Belgium or abroad, winning new markets, etc. The value of its shareholdings currently exceeds 2.2 billion
euros. www.sriw.be
About Epimède:
Epimède Capital is an investment fund targeting small and medium-sized enterprises with high growth
potential in the technology sector. www.epimede.com
ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 30, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Laser industry professionals from academic and industrial settings will be meeting in Orlando, Florida for the 38th annual International Congress on Applications of Lasers & Electro-Optics (ICALEO) conference from Oct 7, 2019–Oct 10, 2019. Organized by The Laser Institute (LIA), the revamped iteration features the four industry foci of Aerospace, Biomedical, Microelectronics, and Automotive.
This year’s ICALEO will introduce a new Business Conference that addresses laser end-users while presenting solutions to challenges that various manufacturing industries are experiencing. A complement to the Technical Conference and its workshops, the Business Conference will allow manufacturers, integrators, and suppliers to selectively engage in the discussion on the unique challenges and revolutionary applications for advanced laser materials processing.
Co-chairs Klaus Löffler of TRUMPF Laser- und Systemtechnik GmbH, and Dr. Henrikki Pantsar from TRUMPF Inc. describe the event as an opportunity to bridge manufacturing and applied research, as well as a platform to highlight laser providers with leading solutions. The exhibitors that attendees will have the opportunity to engage with during the Trade Show include TRUMPF, II-VI, NASA, IPG Photonics, Han’s Laser, and more.
In addition to the Trade Show that will go on across the four days of the conference, conversations will also revolve around the business plenary addresses from the likes of Dr. Christoph Leyens. The Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology in Dresden, Dr. Leyens will speak on the innovative aerospace and space structures made by additive manufacturing during the Aerospace Business Conference day on Oct 7.
He will be joined by Dave Hudson, the President and CEO of Joining Industries and the head of three manufacturing subsidiaries that specialize in different categories of laser-based manufacturing. Mr. Hudson’s presentation will revolve around the expanding use of industrial lasers in aerospace manufacturing.
During the Biomedical Business Conference day on Oct 8, Professor William Steen, the ‘Father of Laser Materials Processing’ and namesake of the inaugural William M. Steen Award will be in attendance to present his talk on the coming of the age of optical engineering. A plenary speech by Dr. Chris Bashur of Florida Institute of Technology will also enlighten the audience on the lasers and optics applications in regenerative medicine.
Dr. Markus Arendt, the President of SUSS MicroTec Photonic Systems, will then elaborate on the practicality of excimer laser ablation for high-density routing in advanced packaging during the Microelectronics Business Conference day on Oct 9.
On the next day, the University of Michigan’s Dr. Jyoti Mazumder will present his plenary address “Laser Aided Manufacturing: Atom to Automobile” for the Automotive Business Conference day. Dr. Jason Carroll, the Global Technology Director for Materials and Manufacturing at Eaton, will follow with his thoughts on the bottom-up digital design for additive manufacturing.
U.S. Department of Labor
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Office of Communications
Washington, D.C.
Contact: Office of Communications
Phone: 202-693-1999 www.osha.gov
U.S. Department of Labor Approves New Respirator Fit Testing Protocols to Protect Workers from Airborne Contaminants
WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today issued a final rule that provides employers with two new fit testing protocols for ensuring that employees’ respirators fit properly.
The new protocols are the modified ambient aerosol condensation nuclei counter (CNC) quantitative fit testing protocol for full-facepiece and half-mask elastomeric respirators, and the modified ambient aerosol CNC quantitative fit testing protocol for filtering facepiece respirators. Both protocols are variations of the original OSHA-approved ambient aerosol CNC protocol, but have fewer test exercises, shorter exercise duration, and a more streamlined sampling sequence.
These two quantitative methods add to the four existing in Appendix A of OSHA’s Respiratory Protection Standard, which contains mandatory respirator fit-testing protocols that employers must choose from to protect employees from hazardous airborne contaminants. The rule does not require employers in general industries, shipyard employment, and construction to update or replace their current fit testing methods, and does not impose additional costs.
The rule becomes effective September 26, 2019.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to help ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.
The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.
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U.S. Department of Labor news materials are accessible at http://www.dol.gov. The Department’s Reasonable Accommodation Resource Center converts departmental information and documents into alternative formats, which include Braille and large print. For alternative format requests, please contact the Department at (202) 693-7828 (voice) or (800) 877-8339 (federal relay).
ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Professor Lin Li, Director of the Laser Processing Research Centre at The University of Manchester, has been announced as the recipient of The Laser Institute’s (LIA) prestigious Arthur L. Schawlow Award for 2019.
Recognition for his career-long contributions to basic and applied research in laser science and engineering, the award will be presented at LIA’s 38th International Congress on Applications of Lasers & Electro-Optics (ICALEO) in Orlando, Florida on October 9th.
The annual commendation acknowledges Professor Li’s leadership as President of The Laser Institute in 2016, as well as President of The International Academy of Photonics and Laser Engineering from 2013–2015 and President of The Association of Industrial Laser Users (AILU) from 2017–2019. At the same time, LIA recognizes his work in pioneering the fields of diode laser materials processing, industrial laser cleaning, multiple material additive manufacturing, and more.
The Arthur L. Schawlow Award joins Professor Li’s list of honored titles including the 2014 Wolfson Research Merit Award from the Royal Society for his research on laser nano-fabrication and nano-imaging, as well as the Researcher of the Year medal from The University of Manchester in the same year. His work on innovative manufacturing that led to significant economic impact was also applauded by The Royal Academy of Engineering as he was bestowed the Sir Frank Whittle Medal in 2013.
LIA’s William M. Steen Award will mark its first year in ICALEO by having its namesake gracing the event as well as personally conferring the awards. Professor Steen will join the audience in saluting the winners that have demonstrated significant innovation in the use of lasers for advanced materials processing.
This year’s winning nominations are:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for the Academic & Public Sector Industry
Lincoln Electric for the Aerospace Industry
K-Labs for the Automotive Industry
Electro-Optics Technology for the Defense Industry
Boston Scientific for the Medical Devices Industry
Samsung for the Microelectronics Industry
Hitachi for the Research & Development Industry
Boss Laser for the Specialized Manufacturing & Services Industry
The Theodore H. Maiman Award will be annually conferred by LIA to the Steen Award recipient organization that demonstrates the highest achievement in advancing laser materials processing technology. Maiman is known for his work in developing the first operational laser and numerous applications thereafter.
The winner of this award will be announced during ICALEO’s Awards Gala on October 9th.
ICALEO will feature over 222 technical and business presentations on cutting-edge laser applications research, development, and implementation across the four-day conference. For more information regarding registration, agendas, and speakers, visit LIA’s official website.
